


The Results of Kindness

by Ononymous



Series: Christmas 2017 Stories and Requests [7]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Pre-Undertale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 15:36:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13216800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: Chara is still adjusting to the new life they literally fell into, and the big deal the Dreemurrs make about this time of year is strange. It's not like they ever had to before...





	The Results of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Original request: Chara being sad on Christmas Eve, remembering how other kids in their village/town/whatever would receive nice gifts, but not them, because according to their parents, Santa didn't ever deem them worthy

"Chara!"

"What?"

"Why'd you sew in 'Mr'? This is for Dad, remember?"

"Yes, you've said this is for Mister Asgore, so I..."

Oh. They'd done it again. They could see it in those green eyes. All three of them were like that, though Asriel's parents were better at not saying it in front of them. And this house was preferable to what they had before. Still, it felt weird to think of a group of monsters as their family.

"Well, maybe we can fix it."

"Okay! How about you make it say ‘Mr, um... Dad... Guy'?"

Chara smiled. It would be an obvious hodge podge. But it was the sort of hodge podge Asriel would think of, so of course Asgore would love it. They at least came to understood how those who took them in reacted to each other, even if they still didn't quite understand how the monsters reacted to them. Less chance of them realising Chara wasn't worth it that way.

"Alright, Asriel." They resumed their work.

"Hey, we should read our letters to each other before Mom sends them."

"Letters?"

Asriel had run over to the desk and snatched a piece of paper. "Here!"

_Dear Santa,_

_I've tried to be really good this year and I don't need too much because I've got a BEST FRIEND who is so cool! But if it's okay, can I have a toy boat for bath time? Oh, but if you ever get the power to break the barrier you can do that instead, seeing the sun with my BEST FRIEND is a way cooler present. The boat is fine if you can't, I understand._

_Love, Asriel_

"I tried not to ask for too much, I know some monsters don't have as much as I do."

"Well, breaking the barrier is a tall order."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be just for me, everyone would benefit. I'd totally give up getting a boat for that! Now, where's your letter?"

"My letter?"

He rested a disbelieving hand on his face. "You haven't written to Santa?! Then you won't get anything! And I know humans have Santa too, I've seen junk in Waterfall with his picture! Or, well, how he looks to humans, I hear he can change his shape so they don't freak out."

A long discarded possibility stirred in Chara's thoughts, but they tried their hardest to ignore it. "No, I don't write to him."

Asriel looked appalled. "Why not?!"

"He wouldn't visit my house, even if I did. That's what my father said. My human father, not Mister Asgore. I'm… not worthy of getting anything from him."

He clearly couldn't wrap his head round the concept, but those familiar tears started to well up in his eyes. "No… Santa wouldn't do that."

"But he did."

"What??"

"I did try writing to him a couple of years ago. I wanted to prove my dad wrong about _something_ for once. But it just proved him right. We even visited our neighbours and those kids all got toys, so it wasn't like he didn't reach our village."

"No! It must have been a mistake! Maybe human letter delivery messes up sometimes. Come on, write a letter, you can stick it in my envelope!"

Chara sighed. "It's alright, Asriel. I'm used to not getting anything."

"B-but... *sniff* But that's so s-sad..."

A tiny part of Chara agreed with him, but it was smothered by the apathy they tried really hard to apply to their past life. And it wasn't like their father had bothered to lie about how he really felt about them. It hurt a little that Santa seemed to agree, but compared to everything else it was just a scratch. And the mere absence of all those other aches was enough of a present.

* * *

"Oh, thank you, Gorey!"

The King and Queen briefly nuzzled noses, Toriel taking care not to dislodge her new glasses, and Asgore looking resplendent in his new sweater.

"Now I can _see_ why the children got me those books, hee hee!"

"Oh, it was nothing, Tori. Just got Neptuna to keep me in the loop if a large enough frame fell. Now they might be uncomfortable to wear all the time, but for reading they should be fine."

"Oh, it shall be a great improvement over squinting! Now then, it is Asriel's turn."

"Finally!"

Chara sat on a wooden chair, watching the young monster rip the wrapping paper to shreds in his excitement.

" _Yes!_ A boat! This is gonna make bath time way more fun!"

"You mean you will no longer argue with me when I tell you to take a bath, my child?"

"Yeah! Well, not right now, but..."

"Um, it's good you all like your presents," said Chara, "so what else do monsters do when that part of the day is over? Is it just fancy food, or are there songs you sing or something?"

Toriel looked slightly puzzled. "But Chara, it is not over yet. Look, there is another present."

She was right. A final present stood partially hidden by the wrapping paper discarded by the Dreemurrs as they unwrapped everything. In spite of everything, they approached it.

_TO CHARA. FROM SANTA_

"I don't think it will bite," chuckled Asgore, "you can open it."

Did their hands normally tremble like this? It was hard to grip it. The tearing sound rang unusually loud in their ears, compared to when the others had opened their presents. In addition to a large slab of chocolate, the box contained a large supply of slightly mismatched colouring pencils, including several replacement green ones, which they often had difficulty finding when they and Asriel drew pictures together. And there were a whole bunch of new colours as well. They had all sorts of options now, they wouldn't have to explain what type of flower they were drawing.

"I... I don't understand. I never wrote to him."

"Yes," said Toriel, "but a certain thoughtful boy alerted me to that fact, and since a certain thoughtful boy's father is King, he must have been able to get word to Santa."

As both Asgore and Asriel beamed with pride, this made sense to Chara. Of course Asriel wouldn't drop it. He had a hard time dropping it every other time they had even hinted something upset them, and this was so alien to his experience he must have just assumed it upset them. That tiny part of themselves unknotted in surprise. And yet...

"Did you tell Santa what to get me, Asriel?"

"No. But the pencils were a great idea, you're so good at drawing! Golly, how did he know without a letter?"

"Well," mused Asgore, scratching his horn, "I think Santa must have been paying special notice ever since you arrived down here. I think he understands how strange and difficult it must be when your life changes so dramatically. And he may have seen you playing with Asriel, and all those pictures you drew, and that time I caught you trying to sneak chocolate from the fridge and, well, here we are. He probably wants to reassure you that everything will be fine, that everyone in this house cares for you, and will take care of you as long as you want to stay with us."

Asgore's words swirled around in their head, and many complex emotions accompanied them. This completely unexpected touch of affection resonated, and before they could stop themselves, tears began to stream down their face from their brown eyes, their hands trembling so much the pencils fell from them. They were not allowed to stand alone for long. Asgore scooped them up, and they mechanically began hugging him as they sobbed quietly.

"There there, it's alright, Chara..."

"D... D-Dad..."

"Oh, they finally...!" whispered Toriel, wiping a tear from her eye at the scene, while Asriel held her hand in joy.

"It's alright- Oof, that's a tight grip..."

The thought pounded in Chara's head as they realised what this gift meant. Dad…

They were going to **kill** him.

Their tears of fury continued to flow unchecked as their hands trembled with rage, the sobbing of pure frustration as the target of their hate was beyond their reach, the effort of their hug with Asgore the only pressure release safety valve keeping them from screaming, which would probably have rendered the Dreemurrs deaf.

It was obvious now. Santa wasn't real. Why else would he suddenly start giving them presents after years of leaving them alone? For some reason lots of families make him up as a proxy to give presents, and they must all do it differently. That in itself wasn't so big a deal, adults never tell kids the whole truth anyway, even monster adults. And Mister Asgore's version was really nice. But that version just highlighted how pathetic their father's version of the lie was. It was plain now that he just didn't want to get them anything. Even _that_ would have been tolerable given everything else he did. But he had lied after all. He made them think Santa was there, just so one more person could judge them and find them wanting, He'd made it plain he didn't love them, but it shocked Chara that he couldn't even have respected them enough to just say they weren't getting any presents. He was a pathetic coward, hiding behind a jolly bearded man who didn't even exist. He really was beyond hope.

So what they wanted right at that moment was that scrap of respect before his life snuffed out. They would get through the barrier somehow, and then all that hurt would be flung back at him, and at all those other people who clearly must have known what he did and let him carry on. Yes, they would figure out how to return to the surface one day. They were determined to. But until then... those were nice pencils. They really were a thoughtful gift These monsters… these people were genuinely pleased to have them around, even if Chara could not understand why. For now, being a part of this family wasn't the worst thing.

"Now then, I think that a slice or two of pie is in order. Do you agree, Asriel?"

"Yeah! Pie for breakfast, that's great!"

"Very well. I do not need to ask Gorey if he wants any. Would you like some, Chara?"

Too choked up by their emotions, Chara merely nodded. They felt Asgore move as the other two followed him into the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> Pastebin Version: https://pastebin.com/fY7HNgxC
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
